HomeHappy New Year! Welcome to the start of the Asian Poker Tour’s 2019 season! The weather is perfect, the venue is prepped, we can already feel another great year ahead as we kick off TODAY at partner and host venue Pro Poker Club in Ho Chi Minh City.
Last year the APT broke trend by hosting our season opener right here for the first time. It was a record-breaker with the house jam-packed everyday. We are extremely thrilled to be opening here again, to bring you another exciting festival to remember. So let’s get right to it.
APT Kickoff Vietnam 2019 begins today January 9th and runs until January 20th. That’s twelve days of games to enjoy with something for everyone. 22 events are lined up and VND 14 Billion in guaranteed prizes. All of these events are trophy events and if you have seen them yet, we’ve got wicked awesome new APT trophies you’ll want your hands on.
*Important reminder, all APT events will utilize the Ante Big Blind format. You can read up on it along with other rules in the festival schedule link provided.
Full APT Kickoff Vietnam 2019 schedule
Opening Day Events
We open our doors today with one of our most popular events, the Monster Stack. This will be joined by the Super High Rollers event. We will also have the first of three Main Event satellites running in the early evening.
13:00: Monster Stack 1 (Day 1) – This event is a scheduled two-day event. Buy-in is VND 11,000,000. Just a piece of advice… this is great warm-up for the upcoming featured events. Whoever wins this will not only collect a sweet starting bankroll but will also take pole position in the 2019 Player of the Series race.
14:00: Super High Rollers Day 1 – For all you heavy-hitters out there, this event is tailor-made just for you. With the buy-in set at VND 107,500,000, expect a small field comprised of some of the top players. This is a scheduled two-day event. No POS points awarded for this event.
18:00: Main Event Satellite – This is the first of three satellites to get in the Main Event. One seat will be awarded per 10 players. Buy-in for this satellite is VND 2,400,000.
Featured Events
After opening day, we jump right into our top of the line events, the Main Event – VND 8 Billion Guaranteed and the Championships Event – VND 6 Billion Guaranteed. Both of these events are equipped with a custom-made APT deep structure and have been revered as one of the best in the region. These two events run back-to-back from January 10 to 15 and January 16 to 20. The Final 8 will stream live on APT Twitch and APT YouTube. Tournament details below:
Main Event – VND 8 Billion Guaranteed
The Main Event is on deck first running a course of 6 days from January 10 to 15. Buy-in is VND 22,000,000. There are three entry days. That should give players plenty of chances to get in on the VND 8 Billion guaranteed pot. As always, blinds escalate every 60 minutes. Late registration closes at the first deal of Day 2.
13:00: Main Event Day 1A –Thursday, January 10 – play 9 levels
13:00: Main Event Day 1B – Friday, January 11 – play 9 levels
13:00: Main Event Day 1C – Saturday, January 12 – play 9 levels
13:00: Main Event Day 2 – Sunday, January 13 – play 8 levels
13:00: Main Event Day 3 – Monday, January 14 – play to the Final 8 players
13:30: Main Event Final 8 – Tuesday, January 15
*There are three Main Event Satellites offered: January 9, 10, and 11.
Championships Event – VND 6 Billion Guaranteed
The Championships Event is the second APT featured event. It runs a total of 5 days from January 16 to 20. Buy-in is VND 38,500,000 with two entry days offered. This also has blinds escalating at a slow and gradual 60 minutes. Late registration closes at the first deal of Day 2.
13:00: Championships Event Day 1A – Wednesday, January 16 – play 9 levels
13:00: Championships Event Day 1B – Thursday, January 17 – play 9 levels
13:00: Championships Event Day 2 – Friday, January 18 – play 9 levels
13:00: Championships Event Day 3 – Saturday, January 19 – play to the Final 8 players
13:30: Championships Event Final 8 – Sunday, January 20
*There are five Championships Event satellites offered: January 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16.
New Pay Table for Featured Events
Due to feedback from players, we’ve adjusted the pay table only for the featured events. As stated in our previous post,
“Players have argued that the “dream of winning big” was lost with the “1 in 6” scheme. Therefore, the featured events will now see a payout structure of 10% of the field with bigger prizes awarded to the top 3 places. As for the side events, which includes the High Rollers events, these will maintain the “1 in 6” payout.”
Bubble Protection
Both featured events will also have the Bubble Protection in effect. This is a great incentive everyone should take advantage of. If a protected player falls as the bubble then that player will receive his/her buy-in back in the form of APT tournament credits. To qualify all you need to do is follow these three simple steps:
- Pre-register
- Draw for your seat before starting time
- Have your chips put into play before the first hand is dealt for each starting day
*Important notes:
- For re-entry players, if you have already met the qualifications for Bubble Protection, you will maintain that status only on a same day re-entry. For re-entry players wanting Bubble Protection on the next starting day, you will have to repeat the steps above. This also applies to players going for multiple stacks.
- Tournament credits are only valid for one (1) year.
Other Events
Among the numerous other events lined up, we’ve broken it down for you into distinct categories:
High Rollers Events
January 11: Event 5: High Rollers Single Day – Buyin: VND 43,000,000
January 14-15: Event 8: High Rollers 1 – Buyin: VND 53,750,000
January 15: Event 11: Short Deck Single Day High Rollers (Shot clock) – Buyin: VND 43,000,000
January 18-20: High Rollers 2 – (3 day event) – two entry days – Buyin: VND 53,750,000
One Day Events
Friday, January 11: Event 4: NLH Single Day Event 1 (Shot clock) – Buyin: VND 6,600,000
Saturday, January 12: Event 6: NLH Single Day Event 2 (Shot clock) – Buyin: VND 6,600,000
Sunday, January 13: Event 7: NLH Single Day Event 3 (Shot clock) – Buyin: VND 6,600,000
Tuesday, January 15: Event 10: Short Deck Single Day Event – Buyin: VND 7,700,000
Wednesday, January 16: Event 12: NLH Single Day Event 4 (Shot clock) – Buyin: VND 8,800,000
Thursday, January 17: Event 13: Super Deep Stack Turbo – Buyin: VND 6,600,000
Friday, January 17: Event 14: WeLoveSport Deep Stack Hyper Turbo – Buyin: VND 5,500,000
Saturday, January 18: Event 17: Deep Stack Turbo 1 – Buyin: VND 6,600,000
Sunday, January 19: Event 19: Deep Stack Turbo 2 – Buyin: VND 6,600,000
Monday, January 20: Event 20: Deep Stack Hyper Turbo – Buyin: VND 5,500,000
Two Day Events
January 10-11: Event 3: Dafabet Head Hunter event with VND 2,000,000/bounty – Buyin: VND 8,800,000
January 14-15: Event 9: Short Deck (Shot clock) – Buyin: VND 9,900,000
January 18-19: Event 16: No Limit Hold’em – Buyin: VND 8,800,000
January 19-20: Event 18: Monster Stack 2 – Buyin: VND 11,000,000
APT Player of the Series
The APT Player of the Series race is on. The three players that have accrued the highest number of points at the end of the festival will win special prizes. All events except the Super High Rollers and satellite events are point-generating. You can view all the details here.
Ring in the new year right! Win big at the APT! See you at the tables!